Orange County to review proposals for Dana Point Harbor project

Parimal M. RohitApril 1, 2017

Successful bidder would liaise between owners and county during revitalization.

DANA POINT — Firms hoping to represent Dana Point Harbor’s business owners at the county level during the waterfront venue’s revitalization formally submitted their bids to O.C. Public Works and now begin waiting for officials to complete the review and deliberation process.

A Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued in early February and potential respondents were asked to submit applications by March 6. Public Works staff began evaluating proposals March 15; respondent interviews are set for April 4 and contract negotiations are expected to begin the following day.

Orange County’s Board of Supervisors will decide who would be awarded the contract, though a timeline for when the vote would occur has not yet been determined. Also yet to be determined is how much the selected firm would earn from the county once it is awarded the contract.

Whoever is chosen would be responsible for representing the harbor’s vendor owners, monitoring and managing construction of the revitalization project and offering quality assurance consulting services, according to the RFP.

Bidders must have managed at least two projects with a $25 million budget (or higher) within the past 10 years to be qualified as a potential owner’s representative and project manager.

The RFP, issued publicly Feb. 6, differs from another proposal request issued by O.C. Parks in October 2016. O.C. Parks issued an RFP late last year in search of a potential development partner to enter into a public-private partnership, or PPP, with Orange County to complete the planned Dana Point Harbor revitalization project.

Proposals for the O.C. Parks request are supposed to be submitted to the department by March 16. The selected vendor would be expected to sign a 50-year lease with the county to “plan, design, permit, fund, construct, renovate, market, operate, manage and maintain” an upgraded Dana Point Harbor.

Orange County has planned a revitalization of Dana Point Harbor for 20 years now, though no improvements to the venue’s waterside elements were ever made since officials initially determined upgrades were necessary.

The county awarded a multi-year contract to a property management firm in 2003 to manage the revitalization project. An initial five-year, $7 million contract eventually ballooned to a $13.1 million obligation, according to an Orange County Grand Jury report released in 2014.

Dana Point Harbor endured a few more punches in 2016, when the venue’s director resigned just before Orange County’s Auditor-Controller published an audit report finding certain harbor employees offered unauthorized discounts for family and friends staying at Dana Point Marina Inn.

Orange County broke ground on the Dana Point Harbor revitalization project in the spring of 2016, however work so far has been limited to roadside improvements.